


All We Do

by rainier_day



Series: Take Me Out [4]
Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Assassins & Hitmen, Breaking Up & Making Up, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Hijinks & Shenanigans, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-12
Updated: 2020-01-27
Packaged: 2020-08-19 19:30:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,753
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20215072
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rainier_day/pseuds/rainier_day
Summary: They’re in Rexxentrum now.He has a mission to accomplish.





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title could be "All We Do" by Oh Wonder or maybe it's part of the lyrics from "Wicked Ones" by Dorothy. Who knows?

“Green one! Help me!”

“How are you so useless!? Fine!”

Caleb reaches out to stop Nott but it’s too late. The goblin launches herself at Fjord. Only, instead of knocking him out of the way or providing him with any cover, she merely clings to his shoulder and after a moment, they’re both screaming. 

Cornering them, the monstrous snapping turtle tries to take another bite.

He runs a hand through his hair and sighs. Next to him, Molly is doubled over in laughter. Biting the inside of his cheek to stop from smiling, he shakes his head and asks, “Will you be alright, Nonagon?”

Gasping for air beneath the mask, Molly gives him a thumbs-up and waves for him to help the pair. 

“Dirty Drifter, you’re our only hope!” Nott shouts, scrambling behind Fjord as the turtle lunges forward again. “No! Take him first! He’s meatier!”

“Why the _fuck _are there giant turtles in Rexxentrum!?” Fjord shouts just as Nott screeches, “This city fucking _sucks_!” 

Glancing back toward the mansion, Caleb hopes Jester and Beau are having more luck finding the target in this private menagerie. Pulling out a dried cocoon, he waves a hand over it and mutters an incantation quietly. The giant snapping turtle pauses and turns its head as its body suddenly shrinks down to the size of a normal turtle.

Nott and Fjord are still screaming when he walks over and picks the little turtle up by the shell and watches it kick and struggle uselessly against his hold. It turns its head to him and tries to aim for his fingers, but he keeps them just beyond its reach. Bringing the turtle to a nearby tree, he wedges it between two branches and turns around to tell the pair, “Please don’t kick it.”

At the sight of this, Molly’s knees buckle and he collapses to the ground from laughing too hard, reaching up under his mask to wipe tears away. 

Immediately returning to his side, Nott raises her crossbow. “Should I kill it!?”

Caleb shakes his head and places a hand on her shoulder to stop her. “It will turn back to its original form if you do. We should leave it in the tree and it will turn back in an hour. Tusktooth, are you alright?”

Still pressed up against the garden wall, Fjord nods, looking a little pale even in his magical disguise. “For the record, I hate everything about this.”

“Really? I thought this was just wonderful,” Molly retorts, still giggling too hard to right himself. “We should’ve done this ages ago! Teamwork’s the _best_.”

Just then, Beau and Jester come running out from the mansion in her war mask. “Target’s down. What happened out here? You guys were being loud as fuck. We heard screaming.” Then she turns her head and points at Molly. “What’s wrong with him? Did Goblina cast that laughing spell again?”

“Nein, it’s just that.” Caleb shrugs and points at the turtle still struggling angrily in the tree. 

Jester skips over and coos, “Oh, a turtle! It’s so cute! Why’s it stuck in a tree? Should I get it down?”

“Please don’t kick it,” he says again.

“Don’t touch it either, Lady Fancypants,” Fjord mutters, dusting himself off. “That’s one mean motherfuck.”

Beau snickers. “You guys were screaming because of a little turtle?”

Nott scowls. “It was a giant turtle! It could probably break bones with its bite but Dirty Drifter made it small, that’s all!”

“Man, that was the best thing I’ve seen since we got here,” Molly says, pushing himself back to his feet. “She tried so valiantly to save him too. What a beautiful friendship.”

“It’s only because he’s so weak!” Nott shrieks back.

Fjord makes a face and glowers. “I will throw you over the wall.”

She narrows her eyes back at him. “I’d like to see you try, noodle arms.”

Caleb holds his hands up to calm the both of them down, then he turns to Beau and asks, “Tracy, you have the proof of kill?”

Nodding, the monk pulls out a golden emblem from Jester’s bag for him to inspect. “I also got to wrestle a monkey so that was a thing that happened. This place is weird. I guess that’s why it’s so isolated. Let’s get out of here.”

“We also fed a giant baby bird!” Jester adds. “I think it’s time to go though. It wasn’t very happy when we left. Beau may have punched it. Does anyone want a ride?”

“I’ll take you up on that, if you don’t mind,” Fjord says, sparing a final glare at the turtle, which snaps its jaws angrily back at him. “The sooner I get away from this place the better.”

Nodding, the cleric holds out her hand. “Okay, you can come with me then, Oskar! We’ll see the rest of you back home!”

The half-orc steps forward and takes her hand. A large glowing doorway suddenly opens and the two disappear in a flash of green. Beau sighs. “Damn, I wanted a ride back. I should’ve called dibs.”

“What a shame.” Stretching his arms, Molly walks up to a tree near the garden wall and reaches up for a sturdy branch. Climbing up to the top of the tree, he leaps and lands easily on ledge of the garden wall. “Hey, Tracy, I’ll race you back. Loser serves drinks for the rest of the night!”

And with that, he jumps back with a flip and disappears on the other side. “That’s cheating!” Beau shouts after him. Cursing under her breath, she scales the wall and runs after the tiefling. 

Caleb blinks and looks down at Nott. “I guess that leaves the two of us then, Goblina.”

She smiles fondly back at him and grabs into his coat as they walk over to the gate. “Just like old times, Dirty Drifter.”

\--

When they make it back to the tavern, Beau is pouring Molly a drink with a scowl while Jester excitedly regales Caduceus with their latest exploit. “Ah, you two made it back,” Molly calls, raising his tankard in greeting. “Keep it up, Beau, we gotta get you ready for the grand opening!”

“You lost, I take it?” Caleb asks.

Beau scowls and nods at the tiefling. “He cheated and tripped me up with his tail and then _blinded_ me.”

“_After_ you tried to whack me with your staff!” Molly retorts. “Fair is fair and a win’s a win. You’re serving tonight.”

She glares at him but turns to them and asks, “So you guys want drinks?”

“Yes!” Nott immediately replies. “Give me _six_!”

With Frumpkin draped around his neck, he nods and takes a seat next to Molly. “I will take one as well, thank you.”

The tiefling smiles and wraps his tail snugly around his ankle. Then, looking around at the empty tavern, he says, “So, it looks like we’re pretty set to open. Just gotta wait for Yasha to finish Yasha-ing and then we’ll all be back together and good to go, right, Mister Owner?”

They’ve been in Rexxentrum for a few weeks now. With the Gentleman agreeing to offer additional assistance in the form of accommodations for their group, they arrived in the city to find a little tavern waiting for them. Since then, they’ve been doing odd jobs here and there to refill their coffers and familiarize themselves with the city.

So far, they’ve decorated the building to their liking and aptly renamed it from “_The Misty Mug_” to “_The Mistake_”. Up on the roof of the building, Caduceus went and set up a discreet little garden for himself and a local compost site for the rest of them. And in the cellar, they set up a soundproof meeting room to receive and review the Gentleman’s Rexxentrum subscriptions.

Then when it came to drawing the roster, the group unanimously named Caleb the temporary proprietor of the tavern on the premise that he could “math good”. Despite his protests, they hoisted the position onto him and gave him the upstairs office to double as his bedroom.

While he could do without such a lofty title, the bedroom is nice with plenty of space for all the books he’d filled Lorenzo’s bag of holding with. It was easy setting everything up to his liking, and after pressing one of Guatav’s parting gifts to them, a rune of silence, into the doorframe, he and Molly wasted no time breaking the room in.

“Do you have any idea when Yasha will be back, Mollymauk?” Caleb asks.

Molly glances out the window and up at the night sky and shrugs. “Any day now. Within the next three days if I had to guess. Don’t worry, she always finds her way back.”

“You have a lot of faith in her,” Beau says, slamming a round of drinks on the table ungracefully.

“Of course. She’s my charm,” Molly replies easily. Then he points at the newly formed puddles of ale on the table and tsks. “Slamming drinks down is fun and all but you gotta learn how to do it without spilling half the tankard. This is how bar fights get started.”

Beau arches a brow. “Slam it down without spilling?”

Nodding, Molly picks up the fullest tankard and brings it down with a loud thud. A couple drops splash onto his hand but the rest remains unspilled. “It’s all in the wrist.” 

Nott leans forward and snatches two of the drinks for her and Caleb before anyone can use them for further demonstrations.

“Don’t practice on the ale,” Fjord calls out from behind the bar. “Go practice on a cup of water or something.”

Throwing her arms in the air in exasperation, Beau complains, “Oh my god, Fjord, we haven’t even opened yet and you’re already such a _manager_!”

“Doesn’t that make you the assistant manager, Beau?” Jester asks, a cup of milk in her hands.

Beau perks up, immediately distracted. “Oh, does it? Do we even need one for such a small place?”

Caleb shrugs. “I don’t see why not. Just don’t expect a pay raise.”

“Gah, you’re a slave driver, Widogast!” Beau exclaims.

“We have not opened, so you technically aren’t working here yet, Beauregard,” he points out lightly.

“Yeah, technically!” Jester chimes in.

“Yeah, listen to the proprietor, no-timer!” Nott shouts.

“Nein, that is not what I—” Caleb tries. But it’s too late. 

“I’ll show _you_ no-time!” Beau reaches out and snatches Nott’s tankard and runs away with a grin. With a shriek, the goblin pulls out her crossbow and chases after the monk. 

“Not in the tavern, you two!” Fjord calls futilely after them.

The tail around his ankle tightens reassuringly and Molly downs his tankard with a laugh. “Home sweet home, huh?”

He hears the sound of crossbow bolts ricocheting off metal followed by a scream and buries his face in his hands with a sigh. “Ja, home sweet home.”

\--

Yasha comes waltzing in the next day just as Molly predicted. The tiefling excitedly comes out from behind the bar to greet her and exchange kisses while the rest continue preparing for their grand opening.

“Who should we invite?” Jester asks, practically hopping with excitement. 

Cleaning a tankard, Fjord shrugs. “Maybe we should keep this a quiet affair for the first night to make sure we didn’t miss anything? And to make sure we get all of bolts out of the walls,” he says with a sharp look at Nott, who pretends not to hear him.

“A soft opening might not be a bad idea,” Caleb agrees, pointedly ignoring the tieflings as they snicker and make lewd comments amongst themselves. “Who do we know here other than people who work for the Gentleman?”

Nott tilts her head in thought before suggesting, “Oh, how about we invite Mister Shakäste and see if he has friends he can bring?”

“That sounds like fun,” Caduceus says, his serene smile ever present on his face. “Inviting friends over, that’s nice.”

Beau grins. “If we have our usual fun, I bet it’d attract all sorts for the hard open—cut it out, you two.”

Molly slinks behind Yasha and makes a suggestive gesture, which makes Jester burst into giggles. Caleb shakes his head, a mildly exasperated smile on his lips. “Ja, that sounds like a good idea. We owe him a lot. Jester, if you wouldn’t mind sending him a message?”

“I can do that!” Jester says and Fjord automatically holds his hands up to count her words. “Hey Shakäste, I don’t know if you remember me but it’s Jester from Zadash! You know, the cute little blue tiefling you helped? We’re here—”

Fjord waves a hand to cut her off. “That’s it.”

“Fuck!” Jester scowls and casts the spell again. “We’re in Rexxentrum now! And I know you said you were here but maybe you’re not so we wanted to check. Anyway, we have a—”

“Nope,” Fjord says again. “Gonna keep going, Jessie?” 

She nods. “We have a tavern here called The Mistake! And we’re thinking about opening it soon, like maybe tomorrow night? So if you have any friends—”

“And you’re done,” Fjord tells her.

“Do you think he got the message?” Jester asks with a concerned frown.

“Maybe we should start by writing down the messages next time,” Beau suggests with a shrug. “In case we have a lot of things to say, you know?”

Suddenly, Jester perks up, her eyes wide and her tail still. “Oh! Yes! Shakäste said he’d find us! And he’s bringing friends! Guys, I’m _so_ good at this! What were you saying, Beau?” 

Beau smiles fondly and shakes her head. “Nothing. You’re the best, Jester.”

Clapping her hands in excitement, Jester grins at them. “I sure am! Oh my gosh, we’re going to have such a good time! I wonder who he’s going to bring!” 

\--

That evening, he’s in his office sorting through the final pieces of paperwork and their newest subscription when there’s a soft knock at the door. Looking up, he deactivates the rune with a gesture and calls out, “Come in.”

Sauntering into the room and reactivating the rune with practiced ease, Molly announces, “My, what a lovely establishment. Whoever can be the proprietor of such a place?”

From behind his desk, Caleb tries his best to keep a straight face. “You need a better script if you expect me to play along, Mollymauk.”

The tiefling lights up, revealing the points of his fangs as he grins. “Oh? You’re willing to play along then? Okay, let’s try something else.” With his hands on his hips, he asks, “How realistic do you want this?”

He arches a brow. “I can’t say I know the answer to that but let’s see if you can walk this fine line,” he says, crossing his arms.

“You know I love a good challenge.” Taking his coat off and throwing it onto the bed, Molly struts over to the desk and leans forward. Caleb can’t help but let his gaze drift down to the thick jagged scar that runs along the tiefling’s sternum. His eyes linger there for a moment before Molly clears his throat and says, “You’re the owner of this quaint little place then? I understand you’re looking to hire someone to...entertain the guests?”

Putting on his best business proprietor look, he also leans forward and asks, “Ja, we happen to be hiring. Tell me, what skills do you bring to this establishment…?”

“Mollymauk Tealeaf. Molly to my friends. And let’s just say my skills are better..._experienced_ than described. So, Mister Owner, care for a demonstration?”

Caleb bites back a laugh as he laces his fingers together on the desk. “That sounds very tempting and I am sure your _service_ is excellent. But before that, Mister Mollymauk, do you have a list of references and past employers I can contact?”

Molly stares for a moment before draping himself over the desk and pouting. “That’s too realistic, Caleb!”

The smile that follows is involuntary and he reaches over to bat one of the tiefling’s charms with his finger. “Is it? Most people need to prove themselves first,” he says softly. Work hard, prove themselves, stand out, and then be chosen. But chosen for what? Chosen to be put at the mercy of those above and too young and starry eyed to know any better.

It was a privilege—an _honour_ they’d thought.

There’s a nibble on his finger, the sharp poke of a fang, that brings him back to reality. He looks down at Molly, who’s watching him closely before smiling curiously. “There you are. Guess I didn’t pass the interview?”

Caleb clears his throat a little sheepishly. “Well, I mean, there is still the demonstration to take into consideration.” Lifting one of the tiefling’s hands, he says, “Come here, Mister Mollymauk.”

Obliging happily, Molly crawls onto the desk and presses a kiss to his lips. “Where do you want me?”

Mind still spiraling, the only thought that comes to Caleb is _with me and by my side_.

_Forever._

_Forever._

_Forever._

What he says instead is “On your knees.”

\--

Lying in bed with Molly curled partially on top of him, Caleb stares long and hard at the ceiling. Being in Rexxentrum has been too easy so far. Compared to what he expected, he feels too at ease, too carefree, too _happy_.

Home sweet home, he had said. 

But that’s not what this is supposed to be.

Rexxentrum was supposed to be the most monumental task of his life, and it still is. But here he is with a lover in his arms and an opening party to plan with a group of friends as if he had nothing better to do. 

As if he had time.

Caleb glances down at Molly, relaxed and breathing evenly, his tail curled loosely around Caleb’s ankle. There’s a flutter and an ache in his heart at how beautiful the tiefling looks, and he has to stop himself from reaching out. Instead, he plays with the chain around his neck and thinks of his parents.

He thinks of the stern but kind look in his father’s eyes, and the pride in his voice when he told their neighbours about his enrollment. He thinks of the soft and fiery features of his mother, and the way a sharp look from her was more than enough to make his stomach sink.

He thinks of the day they approached him with false sincerity right here in this very city that had once seemed so grand and immaculate. And he had fallen for it. Every word they whispered in his ear. Every lie they spun for him. 

For kindness, they had said.

For love—

“Caleb, you’re thinking too loud,” Molly mumbles, shifting and briefly glancing up, his words slurred with sleep.

Blinking out of his thoughts with a slight start, he glances down to see crimson eyes opened to mere slits watching him. “Forgive me,” he mutters, trying to calm his racing heart. 

Molly exhales and rolls onto his front, now directly on top of Caleb, to get a better look at him. “You’ve been having a bad day it seems. Should I get Nott?”

“Nein. I am fine, Mollymauk. Just thinking about all the things we need to do here,” Caleb says, only partially a lie. 

Whether it’s his sleep-addled mind or simply his _trust_ in Caleb (foolish—the very notion), the tiefling nods. “Opening up a tavern is a big thing, having money on your head’s pretty big, and what we promised the Gentleman, that’s pretty big too. But, Caleb, we have time. Enough time to sleep, at least.”

“Ja, that is true. We have time for that,” he concedes. “Sorry for waking you.”

“Mm, if you’re sorry kiss it better,” Molly mumbles, a tired smile in his voice.

Just like that, his heart soars again. They share light, sleep-filled kisses for a couple of minutes before Molly nods off again on top of him. Caleb sighs and wraps an arm around the tiefling and ignores the tightness in his throat.

They’re in Rexxentrum now.

He has a mission to accomplish.

There’s no time to indulge himself like this anymore.

There’s no time for love and such petty distractions.

_But even so_, a hopeful little voice in his heart whispers_, just one more night. _

_Just one more night and then another and then another..._

\--

The next evening, they’re walking the floor of the tavern and chatting excitedly amidst themselves as they prepare to officially open their tavern. 

Beau and Nott are already on their third drink and Fjord is trying to stop them. Jester is sitting in the corner painting their opening night. Molly and Yasha are behind the bar, coming up with increasingly dangerous drinks and daring each other to take a sip. Caduceus is in the kitchen getting dinner ready and Caleb is sitting with Jester, nursing a drink and watching the scene unfold. 

“Cay-leb, you seem to have a lot on your mind,” Jester says, never taking her eyes off her painting. She’s working on Beau’s robes, each layer a different shade of blue with subtle details that he didn’t think such an excitable person would notice.

He shrugs. “There is a lot to do.”

“Are you talking about running a bar or Molly and Yasha’s bounty or the job we’re supposed to do for the Gentleman or something else entirely?” she asks. With the delicate of her wrist, she draws the thin blue line of Beau’s hair tie and reaches down to wash her paintbrush to start on Fjord.

“All of the above, I suppose,” he admits. “Nott and I never needed a day job back in Zadash.”

Jester nods understandingly as she mixes her greens. “We didn’t have to either, but I think it’ll be fun, don’t you? Molly and Yasha always seemed like they enjoyed working at Molly’s.”

Glancing over at the bar, Caleb concedes, “Ja, they did. Beauregard also seemed to enjoy herself there during her time off.”

“See? I think we’ll have fun too. Besides, I think it’ll be nice living together! Before, it felt like we were friends visiting each other and now it feels like we’re a team with a home—kind of like a family!” she says, carefully colouring in the half-orc’s face and arms. “Or do you not like that?”

Caleb frowns and takes a drink from his tankard. “I should not like it.”

At this, Jester turns away from her painting to look at him. “Caleb, you’re always denying yourself nice things like baths and clothes.” She spares him a knowing look but thankfully doesn’t give any more examples. “Are you afraid you’ll get used to it?”

He shies away from her gaze and stares thoughtfully into his ale instead. “Maybe. Or maybe I am afraid I will like it too much and won’t be able to stop once I start.” Already feeling like he shared too much, he gets up. “Ah, please excuse me, I just remembered I need to talk to Fjord about our inventory.”

“That’s not a bad thing, you know?” Jester calls after him, her eyes normally bright with childish joy now steady and sincere. “To have nice things and good people that make you happy. You deserve to be happy too, Caleb.”

Swallowing hard, he ducks his head. “Please excuse me, Jester.”

\--

He and Fjord are in the middle of discussing weekly shipments when the door swings open and a jet black hummingbird darts in followed by a familiar figure with shocking white hair and a broad grin on his lips. “Hello, darlings, it’s been a while.”

“Mister Shakäste!” Nott darts forward excitedly only to skid to a halt when two others step inside. “And you brought friends!”

The man turns his unseeing eyes to her and he nods. “I told you I would, didn’t I? These two lovely ladies just so happen to be boarding with me and they’re in a similar line of work so I thought they could come out and meet some new friendly faces. It’s always good to have friends, isn’t it?”

Caleb watches the two step inside and pull down their hoods. The first reveals herself to be a dragonborn? No, a half-elf with patches of black dragon scales over her face and hand. She waves shyly while the other, a little gnome girl with big green eyes and yellow-straw hair struts forward more confidently and grins. “Hi! I’m Twiggy! Do you want some chocolate?”

Jester immediately joins Nott’s side and squeals. “Hi, I’m Jester! Oh my gosh, you’re so cute!”

“Thanks! So are you!” Twiggy returns. There are twigs and flowers in her hair and Caleb has a hard time discerning whether they were put there on purpose or not. Then she pulls open one of her pockets for Jester to see. “This is Trixie!”

The tiefling’s eyes widen as she peers in. “You have a pocket squirrel! That’s so cool!”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Twiggy,” Fjord says, stepping forward. “I’m Fjord. And who is your other friend there?”

The half-elf tucks her hair behind her ear on the non-dragon side and smiles hesitantly. “Hello, Mister Fjord. Thank you for having us. My name is Calianna.”

“Cali is part dragon!” Twiggy exclaims excitedly. 

As Calianna recoils from the attention, Beau steps forward with interest. “Hey, that’s pretty cool. So can you breathe fire or anything?”

“Or are you super strong maybe? Could you lift one of us?” Yasha asks, her curiosity equally piqued.

Shaking her head, Calianna says, “No, I’m not particularly strong but I can do some magic? It must seem pretty weird, these dragon scales.”

“Weird, you say? You’ve come to just the right place then, dear,” Molly says warmly, coming out from behind the bar with two ales and a glass of milk. “We’re pretty fond of weird here.”

Beau snorts in agreement. “Yeah, I mean, why else would we keep you around, am I right?”

Arching a brow, Molly retorts, “Just like how we keep you around for your charming personality, am _I_ right?”

She scowls. “Fuck you, Molly!”

He cackles. “Fuck you too!”

Fjord sighs and massages his temples. “Please. Ignore them. We’re very glad you could all join us tonight. C’mon, dinner should be ready soon. I’ll show you around and introduce you to everyone.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No scheduled updates for this one. We'll just have to see where this road takes us


	2. Chapter 2

Around dinner, energized by the presence of guests and having learned that Twiggy and Calianna are in the thieving business, the Mighty Nein chatter happily about their prospective jobs in the city. They trade tips and stories back and forth until the food is gone and the dishes are cleared, and they start breaking off into smaller groups, spreading out around the tavern.

As the drinks continue to pour, Caleb can feel his focus wane with the rest of the table. With the three clerics and Twiggy still sober and keeping an eye on them, he strikes up a debate with Beau on the best method to conserve scrolls and parchment, and he matches her pace, downing drink after drink without thought.

Anything to take his mind off Jester’s earlier words to him.

The room is starting to spin uncomfortably when Molly suddenly pops up out of nowhere and shakes his head at them with a smile. “You two are absolutely sloshed.”

“Book preservation is a serious matter, Mister Mollymauk,” he mutters even as he leans forward against the table to steady himself.

Beau nods in agreement. “Yeah, fuck you, Molly.”

The tiefling scoffs. “Fuck you too. Say, mind if I try something on you, Mister Caleb? It’s for science.”

Caleb narrows his eyes, trying to get his vision to focus, but the sparkle of Molly’s charms makes it hard to concentrate. Furrowing his brows, he looks around and asks, “Here?”

“You guys are gross. I’m leaving,” Beau slurs, bumping and shaking the table as she clambers out of her seat and stumbles away without any of her usual dexterity.

“Oh, you grossed Beauregard out.”

That gets him a soft laugh. “Good! But, no matter what Beau thinks, it’s nothing particularly bad. It’s strictly for science. Promise.”

Briefly, he thinks of pulling the tiefling upstairs and kissing that smile off his lips, but the thought passes and he nods instead. “Ja, okay. For science.”

Molly’s tail wraps happily around his leg and he reaches for his face.

All of a sudden, he’s a teenager again, sneaking out to a tavern, following the two he was so convinced he’d spend the rest of his life with. Comrades. Friends. More. Thrilled and wanting to make the most of their recklessness, they spent all their coin on drinks. 

Still young, it didn’t take very long for him to drink himself under the table. And she was right there with him. 

Astrid.

Laughing at him for not pacing himself.

Astrid.

Reaching out and flicking him on the forehead before kissing him and handing him another tankard.

_Astrid_—

Suddenly, the spray of droplets snaps him out of his trance. Looking up, Caleb blinks to see Molly looking at him with an unreadable expression. “Wh-what did you do?” he asks, feeling significantly more sober now. The room is still and his vision clear and he wants nothing more than to return to the drunken state he was in a moment ago.

Snapping out of his own thoughts, Molly gives him a rueful little smile and shrug. “Just thought I’d see if I could extract some alcohol from you with whatever this power is.” More cheerfully, he adds, “Looks like it worked! Now you can drink more! Winners all around!”

“It certainly did something,” Caleb mutters. Desperate to take the tiefling’s attention off him, he says, “You know, I think Beauregard would appreciate being sobered up.”

Crimson eyes light up with mischief. “Why didn’t I think of that? She’s going to _hate_ this!”

With a sloppy kiss on the cheek, Molly runs off to find his next victim.

Relieved to be left on his own again and not wanting to dwell on the memories that now feel more like open, festering wounds, he gets up and makes his way over to the bar to refill his tankard. Fjord has long since left his station behind the bar and is currently arm wrestling Nott at the other end of the room. Rummaging around the cupboards, Caleb finds a near-empty bottle of whiskey and takes a swig and winces. It feels like fire down his throat but that’s exactly what he was looking for.

Nodding, he empties it into his cup.

Somewhere in the tavern, he suddenly hears, “What the _fuck_, Molly!?”

\--

An hour later, he’s gravitated back to Mollymauk’s side, leaning languidly against the table with a pleasant buzz and unfocused mind. There’s chattering all around and him, and it’s only when he hears Molly laugh that it occurs to him to turn his head to pay attention to their guests.

Sitting diagonal from him is Calianna. Her face is flushed—the non-dragon side, anyway. She’s talking to Molly animatedly and the tiefling’s eyes are shining as he shows off his pendants. Curious, Caleb shifts a little closer to listen in, resting his head on the tiefling’s shoulder.

“Oh, they’re lovely, Mister Molly!”

“Aren’t they just?” Molly agrees, reaching up to pat him on the cheek briefly.

“This moon one with the gem is beautiful! Did you get it back in Zadash?” Calianna asks earnestly, leaning in to get a better look.

Molly’s smile widens. “This? This was a very special gift, actually. I quite like it myself.” Caleb resolutely refuses to take note of how his heart warms at the words. “I wonder what kind of jewellery they sell around here. We should go shopping some time. Probably with Jester too.”

Jester immediately perks up from the other side of the table—completely sober but somehow further gone than some of them. “Yes! Always with me!”

Nodding with alcohol-induced enthusiasm, Calianna says, “Of course! Always with you, Jester! Is there anything in particular you’re looking for? I haven’t been here for too long, but I’ve spotted a couple of nice looking places.”

Although his speech is mostly unaffected by the ale, Molly blinks slowly as if just returning to the conversation. “Looking for? Like the hut in the woods? Caleb, where’s that hut again?” 

A wave of fondness washes over Caleb at the discovery of this new manifestation of drunken stupor. If not for the company of their friends, he imagines they would’ve given up the notion of holding any sort of coherent conversation in favour of kissing and other terrible ideas. “You will not be doing very much shopping there, Mollymauk.” 

“No, they’ll be the ones shopping for me, won’t they?” the tiefling mumbles. “Where is it? On a stream in a forest?”

“Is this the best time to be discussing this?” Caleb asks.

Molly shrugs. “Probably not. But, please? It couldn’t hurt.”

Despite himself, he recites, “Fine. It is on the outskirts of Rexxentrum. In a little forest northeast somewhere and near a stream.”

With an emphatic nod, Molly smiles and nuzzles his head affectionately and mutters something quietly in Infernal. “Mm, so smart. What he said.”

“Northeast and near a stream…” There’s a pause and then Calianna turns to Twiggy, swaying in her seat and blinking. “Twiggy, do you remember when we went out picking berries in the forest last week? Didn’t we see a little hut by a stream?”

“Yes, there was! It was this old little thing and I wanted to go check it out but you said you got a bad feeling from it,” the gnome replies, stuffing her mouth with chocolate before offering a piece to Caduceus. “We can show you where it is if you want!”

They both sit up a little straighter at that, suddenly feeing more sober. Caleb furrows his brows. “You have been to it?”

Twiggy nods. “Not inside, but we definitely saw a hut near a stream! It was pretty suspicious-looking, you know?”

Molly reaches up subconsciously to run a finger along his scar before catching himself and stopping. Expression shuttering, he frowns and look away. “That might be the place. It sounds like—I..._fuck_, I should—I’m not drunk enough for this.”

Seeing the tiefling practically thrumming with anxiety, Caleb reaches down under the table and places a hand on Molly’s knee and rubs his thumb in slow circles and whispers, “Breathe, Mollymauk. You are safe here.”

Taking a deep breath, Molly’s hand snakes under the table and lands on his. The tiefling shoots him a grateful look and takes another breath. “I thought it would be easier than this,” he admits quietly.

Calianna shoots them a concerned look. “Mister Molly?”

Molly shakes his head and gets up. “It’s nothing, dear. I need another drink is all.”

Behind them, as though sensing his distress, Yasha makes her way over and leans down protectively over him. “Mollymauk, are you alright?”

Shaking his head and instinctively leans into her presence, Molly mutters something to her. Straining his ears and concentration, Caleb manages to catch the tiefling’s last words.

“…I won’t lose you again, Yasha.”

“Oh, _Molly_. My Mollymauk,” Yasha says softly, planting a kiss on his head. “You won’t. You never will.”

“Promise me.”

“I promise.”

As the two make their way toward the bar, even with his mind addled with drink, Caleb can’t help but notice how she doesn’t leave him by himself after that, always at least keeping her hand on the tiefling’s shoulder for the rest of the night. That’s the proper way to calm Mollymauk down when he’s panicking, he notes to himself for next time.

_Not that it matters_, he thinks.

“Caleb?” he hears someone ask.

“It doesn’t matter,” he mutters back and downs his drink.

\--

The next day, Caleb wakes up early in the morning with less of a hangover than he expected. Turning his head, reminiscent of that day of the Harvest Fest back in Zadash, he sees Nott to one side and Molly to the other. This time, however, Yasha’s also there next to Molly and there’s soft snoring coming from the floor.

Not wanting to risk any movement, he sends Frumpkin over to the edge of the bed to peer down to find the Ball-Eaters passed out on the floor, both Beau and Fjord curled around Jester. Remembering that Jester didn’t drink last night, Caleb figures she chose to join her friends there though he can’t be sure about any of the others.

He returns to his own vision and looks down at where Nott is and smiles at the way she clings to his pant leg, completely exposed and uncovered by the blanket. They’ve come so far and although he had his doubts, they made it. She’s proven herself time and time again to him and he only wishes he could do the same for her somehow.

_Proving yourself to a tool? A pawn? Don’t be foolish, wasting your time like that_, a voice whispers in his mind, sounding a little less like his own and more of an amalgamation of old voices. 

Aggressively pushing that thought away, he has Frumpkin pull a spare blanket over the Ball-Eaters and then hop back up onto the bed to take the edge of his blanket and pull it over Nott before curling up next to the goblin. 

There’s a soft sigh and Molly curls closer to him. Heart speeding up even at the unconscious gesture, Caleb turns his gaze up and stares at the ceiling, not daring to move lest he wake the others. But even as his eyes remain fixed to the ceiling, his mind paints the picture for him.

Soft curls of purple, the gilded tip of a horn scraping lightly against his ribs, normally bright crimson eyes hidden from the world. There’s an absence of a tail wrapped around his leg so it must be around Yasha’s instead. 

For a moment, he’s tempted to reach out but he simply continues looking up. He remains this way for several minutes before the soft, rhythmic breathing of everyone around him lulls him back to sleep.

\--

When he comes to again, it’s to familiar voices. 

“My fucking head. Did we trash the place?” Beau whispers harshly.

“No, you tried running up a wall but I made sure you didn’t!”

“Thanks, Jes. Why are we on Caleb’s floor?”

“Because Molly dragged Fjord here after he fell asleep in the bathroom and we decided to have a sleepover,” Jester replies. 

There’s a groan from Fjord. “Gods, my _back_. This was a bad idea. What happened to our guests?”

“Shakäste is in your room, and Calianna and Twiggy are in me and Beau’s,” Jester tells him. “I think everyone had fun last night. I think I had a little too much chocolate though.”

Molly stiffens next to Caleb. He glances down and meets ruby red eyes. “Good morning, Caleb.”

“Guten Morgen, Mollymauk,” he returns, then he glances behind the tiefling and adds, “and Yasha.”

“Good morning,” she replies with a nod. Then she looks down. “Hello, Nott.”

Sitting up by his leg, the goblin narrows her eyes. “My brain hurts. Keep it down or I’ll kill you all.”

At the end of the bed, Jester is back up on her feet and helping the other two to theirs. After a round of greetings to everyone, she skips out the door announcing, “I’m going to see if Deucy needs help with breakfast!”

“Shit, how’s she so peppy?” Beau groans, staggering towards the door. “Is that the magic of sobriety? Maybe I should give it a try.”

Fjord snorts.

“Yeah, you’re right.” Then glancing back, the monk raises a hand in greeting. “Morning and all that. I’m gonna go puke.”

“Not if I get there first,” the half-orc grumbles.

Beau narrows her eyes. “You’re on.”

After the two leave the room, there’s a slight shift as Yasha slides out of bed. She looks like she’s about to walk away when Molly holds out his hands, making grabbing motions at her. “Carry me back to my room, Yash.”

Arching her brow, she smiles and shakes her head even as she bends down to scoop him up. “You are ridiculous.”

“And dreadfully hungover. And you’re really fucking strong,” the tiefling returns cheerfully. “We make the perfect team!”

It’s only when Yasha looks over at him that Caleb realizes he’s smiling as well and quickly schools his expression into something more neutral and clears his throat. “I will see you two at breakfast.”

“Don’t be too long, Mister Caleb,” Molly says lightly, leaving with a little finger wave as he’s carried out the room.

Finally left alone against, Nott scoots closer to him and peers down. “How are you feeling, Caleb? You drank a lot more than usual.”

“I am alright. Mollymauk tried something last night and I am not feeling very hungover,” he replies.

“That’s good. Your voice is quiet. It’s nice,” she says, sparing him a smile—all jagged teeth and affection. “But I mean how are you feeling about being here. You’ve been acting a little off lately. Is it the tavern? Is it the city? Is it Molly?”

He furrows his brows and considers his answer for a moment. “This city holds a lot of memories for me.”

Nott nods. “And you have an excellent memory.”

A little smile touches his lips. “Sometimes I wish that was not the case,” he admits. “These memories are not necessarily good ones. In fact, I would say many of them are not and even the few good ones I have…well, I see them differently now, as good as they were. As for the other things...this tavern, these people, _Mollymauk_, none of these were things I predicted.”

She scoffs at that. “I doubt even the gods could’ve predicted Molly.”

Caleb chuckles and shakes his head. “That may be true. I don’t know how he, or any of this, fits into my plans just yet.”

_If they do at all_, a voice that’s no longer his own reminds him. _Always so soft, Bren. How can you possibly hope to achieve your goal with so many obstacles—so many weaknesses and liabilities in the way?_

“Is there anything I can do to help, Caleb?” the goblin asks earnestly as she continues looking down at him.

“Stay by my side as you have done up to this point,” Caleb says, pulling her in for a hug. “I feel saner with you here, Nott the Brave.”

She returns the embrace, her claws digging into his shirt. “Well, you don’t need to worry about that. I’ll always be right next to you, Caleb.”

\--

Breakfast is a quiet affair for the most part. Their guests join them and eat quietly. Calianna looks a little worse for wear while Twiggy watches the rest of them, offering them chocolate and avoiding those with scowls on their faces. Eventually, the clerics decide to have mercy on them and begin relieving them of their hangovers.

“Is that better, Beau?” Jester asks, the green glow fading from her fingertips.

“Yeah, a million times better. You’re the best, Jes,” Beau groans, still sitting with her face down on the table. “Give me a couple minutes and I’ll do a flip for you.”

“A flip? Do one now! I’ve never seen a person throw up mid-flip,” Molly teases, having been helped by Caduceus just moments earlier.

Without raising her head, Beau gives him the finger and says, “There’s one flip.”

Molly cackles and throws some of his breakfast at her only to have her catch it and chuck it back, and helplessly—_privately_, Caleb can’t help but smile along. 

\--

After their mean, Calianna and Twiggy offer to show them to the hut and after some discussion, they agree to send a small group ahead to scout out the place. Placed in the away group with Jester, Molly, and Yasha, the four of them split off to prepare for their departure. He heads up the stairs on the pretense of retrieving his books from his room, but instead, he does down to the other end of the hallway and slips into Molly’s room to find him gathering his swords.

Turning around, the tiefling cocks his head curiously. “Mister Caleb, this is a pleasant surprise.”

Closing the door behind him, Caleb’s suddenly reminded of standing in Molly’s old room as he filled Jester’s bag full of items in preparation for the rescue mission. He steps forward and asks, “Are you feeling alright, Mollymauk?”

Molly shrugs, strapping his swords to his belt. “I’m fine. Mister Clay was kind enough to magic away my hangover earlier.”

He considers dropping the question and leaving it there but asks again, “Are you alright? About everything, I mean. You seemed upset last night.”

At this, Molly’s shoulders droop and he gives him a small, tired smile. Tail snaking around his arm, the tiefling pulls him closer and rests his forehead against Caleb’s shoulder. “Admittedly I’ve been better but I’ve also been much, much worse, so I suppose I’m not too bad overall. I guess I just didn’t expect to actually find this place. Suddenly, it’s all real, you know? Lorenzo and all that. It’s stupid.” Before he can get a word in, Molly continues, “It _is _stupid. I know it is. This place will be...challenging. But I’ll be okay. I have my charm with me. I’ll be fine. How about you? How are you, Caleb? Give me a kiss?”

“I am much the same. Not the best but not the worst,” he replies quietly, tilting the tiefling’s chin up obligingly for a kiss. “I am alright.”

It’s the truth but it lingers in his mouth like a lie.

Returning the kiss, Molly runs a hand through his hair, brushing strands of reddish-brown back and out of his face. Studying him with his brows furrowed in concern, he asks, “Are you sure? You—” he pauses and seems to think better of it and shakes his head. “Never mind. As long as you say you’re alright.”

Caleb arches a brow at the unfinished thought and briefly considers asking for clarification but Molly kisses him again and pulls away.

“C’mon, we shouldn’t keep our guests waiting.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally, this chapter was going to be all just wishful thoughts of kissing but then Caleb found a way to sneak a couple of real kisses


	3. Chapter 3

Regrouping downstairs, Caleb walks past Molly as the tiefling goes to Yasha’s side. He ignores the questioning look from Beau and Nott and stands a little ways away from where Jester is happily telling their guests about the fun and adventures they had on their way to Rexxentrum. Somehow, the stories feel like an entire lifetime ago rather than mere weeks.

As if sensing the tension in the circus duo as they watch in silence, Jester seems to try to make up for it with exaggerated motions and horrendous sound effects. It has the desired effect when Molly snickers and applauds her performance and even Yasha smiles indulgently.

Caleb feels his shoulders relax a little at the sight.

“Should we get going then?” Calianna asks, still a little pale from the aftermath of their bender despite Jester’s healing. “I don’t think it’d be good to stay out there for too long.”

The rest of them agree and their little group follow their guests out, leaving the rest behind to clean up and prepare for the actual opening night. Judging by the looks they receive when they step outside, the mix of scowls and curious gazes, and even the occasional amused salute, they’re off to a good start on the business side of things, at least.

Calianna and Twiggy lead them out the nearest gate to avoid drawing attention within the city walls. As they trudge parallel to the city walls, Twiggy happily regales them with the biggest job they ever took on, attempting but failing at any subtlety. She blurts out their victim’s name and address in the first sentence and then the item and their client in the next. 

Jester kindly plays along when the gnome tries to correct herself while he pretends not to have heard anything. Calianna winces and smiles gratefully at the tiefling for her kindness and the other two… Glancing over at the pair, he sees Molly and Yasha only half paying attention to them. Rather, they seem to be off in their own little world, communicating between themselves in the way that they do.

Eventually, Yasha wraps an arm around the tiefling and pulls him close, pressing a kiss on his horn. Molly laughs and swats her away with his tail before leaning in to whisper something in her ear. The woman’s mismatched eyes widen slightly before smiling along.

Wrapping Frumpkin around his neck, Caleb trails after the group, keeping one eye on their surroundings and one eye on Mollymauk. Thinking back to their moment of privacy earlier, he wants to reach out. He wants another moment alone with the tiefling. He wants—the realization of where his train of thought is leading snaps him out of his stupor. 

It doesn’t matter what he wants.

Tearing his gaze away, Caleb picks up his pace and catches up with Jester, who looks at him curiously. He shakes his head and she nods understandingly, giving him a gentle pat on the arm before returning to her conversation.

\--

Breaking away from the city wall and into a nearby forest, Calianna gestures for them to slow down and raises a finger to her lips. “The hut’s not too far from here.”

Their conversations immediately die down, fading back to tense silence. The forest is thicker than it looked from the outside, but the canopy is sparse enough to let a consistent amount of sunlight through.

They creep amongst the brushes, clearing back tall grasses and shrubbery when they suddenly hear the sound of a little stream. Poking their heads out at Twiggy’s signal, Caleb spots the hut first.

It’s small and unassuming, situated in a small clearing barely big enough for it. Yet, somehow, all the surrounding shrubbery appropriate for hiding behind seem to be pushed back a significant amount. The single square window on the side of the building reveal a dusty sill and darkness inside.

Next to him, Molly and Yasha stand perfectly still, silently exchanging eye contact before Twiggy asks, “Why are we all just sitting around? It doesn’t look like anyone’s around. Didn’t you want to go in?”

Caleb shakes his head and holds a hand up to stop her. “That would be a bad idea. If this is truly the place and if people from a certain assembly truly are involved, it will be filled with traps and worse. Please give me ten minutes.” Pulling out his book, he sits down and begins casting Detect Magic.

Twiggy cocks her head. “So you’re going to read?”

“No, he’s doing magic,” Jester explains quietly. “Caleb does his magic by studying.”

“Oh, I do mine with all sorts of things! Do you wanna see?” the gnome offers, pulling out an assortment of items and snacks from her pockets.

The minutes pass uneventfully when the world around him suddenly lights up. He sees thin lines of abjuration spells surrounding the perimeter of the hut and around the frames of the door and window. From within, powerful conjuration and evocation spells colour the little shack and sets off alarms in his head. “I think,” he begins, swallowing nervously, “we are at the right place and we should not get any closer.”

Mollymauk leans in closer to him and asks, “What do you see, Mister Caleb?”

Despite the moniker, the tiefling’s eyes remain serious. 

Only, he’s not looking at Caleb this time. There is no quiet comfort, no moment of solidarity, and it gives Caleb a distant feeling of nostalgia—a yearning for something he still has, and he shakes it off.

“Traps. Magical traps and probably normal ones as well, but there it would be difficult getting to them without the magical ones going off. There are alarm spells all over the place. If even one goes off, we are done for. And if, _somehow_, we make it inside, there are very powerful spells even I would have trouble undoing,” Caleb tells him. “Whatever this place is, it is clearly important.”

Finally, a smile directed at him. “Well, we best not try our luck then if they’re going to give even our resident wizard trouble. We should keep our distance.”

“Is there anything we can do here?” Yasha asks from Molly’s other side.

“The best thing we can do it monitor the situation,” he replies. “I can keep Frumpkin here to keep watch. Maybe we can find out their routine or some catch sight of some of the figures involved.”

Yasha frowns. “Is that a good idea?”

At the same time, Molly asks, “Won’t you miss your cat?”

Caleb shrugs, feigning a nonchalance he doesn’t feel. “I will miss him, but he is easier to bring back than any of us. And it’s probably not a good idea, but at no point is messing with the Assembly a good idea. This is simply the safest option immediately available to us.”

“Don’t worry, we’ll keep you two safe,” Jester chimes in, her voice light but her eyes solemn. “We won’t let anyone take either of you, right, Caleb?”

He thinks of Molly’s body on the ground and Yasha storming down the hall with murder on her face. He tries to imagine the pair being brought here by the Iron Shepherds—and for what? No, best not to think about it. 

Swallowing hard, he shakes his head. “Nein, not if we can help it.”

Jester makes a face at him. “What are you talking about? We can _totally_ help it! We’re really fucking strong!”

Taken aback by her sudden ferocity, Molly throws his head back and laughs, eyes crinkling at the corners. “Well said! I put my life and safety in your fucking strong hands then. C’mon, there’s nothing we can do here until we get more information.” Casting a quick glance back towards the building, he says, “Let’s go home. The faster we get away from this place, the better I’ll feel.”

There’s a quiet round of assent and as they turn around to leave, Caleb reaches out and tugs on the tiefling’s fingers and they exchange glances. Molly gives him a faint smile, strained but real, and squeezes his hand back. 

\--

There’s a hoot and a claw scratching lightly at his knee. Opening his eyes, Caleb smiles faintly. “Forgive me, Frumpkin. I promise I will change you back as soon as I can.”

The owl blinks slowly at him and hops over.

“Ja, I know you don’t like this form that much, but we need to help our friends,” he says quietly in the privacy of his room. “All of this could have been avoided if we didn’t get attached but...what’s done has been done and all that. And, well, I suppose it has its perks sometimes.”

Frumpkin hoots and starts preening his feathers. Caleb lets his smile fall and reaches out to ruffles the owl’s head. “Not too much longer now. We will help where we can, just until it is time for us to go. Then it will be like as we originally planned. We cannot play house forever.”

\--

“Dirty Drifter, do you see the target? We’re clear out here—you can reply to this message!”

Poking his head around the corner, he sees a pair of ruby red eyes staring back at him in the shadows through a grinning mask. Molly shakes his head. “Not yet. This mansion is big. Check with Lady Fancypants?” he replies.

When he doesn’t receive a reply, he joins Mollymauk down the hall. They’ve been waiting for nearly 20 minutes now, the group having split up to herd the target away from their guards only to lose sight of them in the vast mansion.

Molly tilts his head questioningly.

“Not yet,” Caleb says quietly. 

They continue their lookout in companionable silence for the next few minutes when suddenly, footsteps start running towards them. With his transmuter stone, he peers down the hall and sees three armed guards running towards them with some urgency, though their attention isn’t on their surroundings.

Stepping out from behind them, Mollymauk quickly dispatches one of the guards with a clean cut to the neck and moves onto the next.

Caleb follows suit and raises his hand to send a blast of fire from his hand. The guard shouts in alarm as flames lick at their metal plating only to be silenced by a gleaming blade.

With his back turned, the last guard lands a cut on the tiefling, who hisses and stumbles forward. At the sight of this, Caleb feels his mind blank, and for a moment, all he can see is Molly lying in a pool of his own blood, eyes forward and unseeing. 

He only registers the fight ending when he sees the guard engulfed in flames and dispatched much like the others. Molly withdraws his sword and walks over to him and pats his cheek. “You good?”

It’s only then that he snaps out of his stupor and looks up to see a grinning mask looking back. “Ja, and you?”

“Just a scratch and nothing more.” Moving closer, Molly lifts his mask slightly, just enough to reveal his lips, and places a kiss on his forehead. “Time for this later. We need to figure out where these guys were going.”

Caleb nods numbly and follows after the tiefling, doing his best to keep those earlier memories at bay.

\--

In the end, they find the man tucked away and sniveling in a hidden compartment under his bed. They make quick work of him and find their separate ways back to the tavern for a good night’s rest.

Back in the safety of his room, he checks in with Frumpkin to see if there’s been any activity near the hut. Before he can shift his perspective, he hears his door open and turns around.

Of all people, he wasn’t expecting Beauregard to enter. “Hey, so I heard from Molly that you were acting weird tonight and I owed him for trading shifts with me.”

He furrows his brows and crosses his arms. “If Mollymauk is worried, why are you here and not him?”

Beau shrugs. “Probably because he knows you two would just end up fucking and not talking.”

His face heats up at the bluntness of the statement. “And Nott was not an option either?”

“She’s too soft on you,” the monk explains. “She thinks you hung the moon. You could say anything and she’d defend it to her last breath—against us anyway. Maybe she’s different when you’re alone, but that’s too bad. It looks like you’re stuck with me. So, what happened?”

Caleb turns away and frowns. “It was nothing—just a slip of focus. You can tell Mollymauk I am fine.”

There’s a loud scoff and Beau leans back against the door with her arms crossed. “Bullshit. Listen, I get that you don’t want to talk about it and like, I _get_ that. But you can’t just bottle it up and wait for it to explode. And out of all people—”

“What? Out of all people _you_ would understand?” he snaps. He doesn’t mean to but the words come out harsh and brittle as he thinks of Molly’s unmoving body and the faces of his parents as he unknowingly said goodbye for the last time.

Beau purses her lips for a long moment before speaking again, her voice cold and quiet. “Yes, I would. It might not be the same, but sometimes when I look at Molly, I see a dead man walking. Sometimes when I look at Yasha, I remember her tearing down the hall at us, ready to tear us apart. Sometimes when I look at Jester and Fjord, I have to stop myself from pulling them back from shadows that aren’t there. You’re not the only one who walked away from this with echoes in your head, Widogast.”

He looks away and deflates, his shoulders sagging with weariness. “I...I know. I apologize. I just…” He wasn’t supposed to care this much. 

With a sigh, Beau forces herself to relax and shakes her head. “Like I said, I get it. If you need to talk to someone who isn’t Nott or Molly, I’m here, okay? Even if that means needing to raise your voice or a good telling off,” she offers a little sheepishly.

“You say you have all those thoughts but how are you so calm? I am used to being able to distance myself from these things but I find myself unable to. How do you handle it?” he asks quietly, holding his breath as he waits for an answer.

The monk pauses, turning back. “Not as well as you think, probably. I don’t know, I try to remember you burning Lorenzo’s brains. I try to look at them and see them _there_, you know? That helps. We all came out of this pretty fucked up, Caleb, and I think the smart thing to do would be to talk to them but...it feels like I’d be admitting to failing them or something. I’ve seen them talking to Caduceus though, and I’ve seen Molly and Jester talking. It seems to help them.”

Caleb doesn’t answer, considering her words. They’re sound but the very notion of admitting to concern seems counterproductive to his plans.

Sensing the end of their conversation, Beau gestures to the door. “Guess that’s my cue to go. Want me to send Molly in so you two can fuck and not talk?”

He shakes his head. “Nein, I think I need some time to think about what you said.”

The monk blinks in surprise and he wonders if that’s the wrong answer to give, but then Beau nods and shrugs. “Yeah, okay. Cool. That went well, I guess. Good talk.”

“Beauregard?” he calls out after her.

“What?”

“Thank you.”

Beau offers him a smile. “Anytime, man. We’re practically a family now, living together and all that, you know? A weird, giant, fucked up family.”

She doesn’t see the way his smile falls at her words.

\--

Molly doesn’t try to approach him until the next night after his shift and Caleb tries not to think about how empty his bed feels that night. The knock at his door is soft and unsure—so much so that he gets up to see who it is. “Mollymauk. Guten Abend.”

“Hello,” Molly says with a sheepish smile. “Gluten almonds.” 

Crimson eyes watch him as if waiting for something. Ignoring the butchered greeting and the fondness it fills him with, Caleb steps back and opens his door wider. “Come in, please. I did not realize it was you. It’s not like you to enter so quietly.”

“Should I have thrown some confetti your way?” the tiefling tries with a quiet chuckle.

“Nein, that is more Jester’s style,” he mutters. 

There’s a pause. Molly reaches up and rubs the back of his neck uncomfortably. “So did you have a good chat with Beau or was it a terrible idea?”

He’s still thinking about her words and briefly considers sharing them but says instead, “I have it on good authority that all of your ideas are terrible.”

The distraction works and Molly immediately places his hands on his hips, his usual mischievous smile back on his face. “As I recall, you’re a pretty big contributor to these terrible ideas.”

“There are worse things I can think of,” Caleb retorts, licking his lips.

Molly seems to exhale in relief with a note of something else he can’t quite name, but it’s gone in a flash and the tiefling is strutting up to him, activating the rune on the door with the flick of a wrist. “I don’t suppose you’d care to demonstrate?”

Raising his hand, he beckons the tiefling closer. “I would not be opposed. Come here, Mollymauk.”

\--

Life seems to return to their loose definition of normal after that. For weeks, they juggle their jobs and assignments, entertaining guests and each other in peace—until he feels a ping in his mind that sends him sitting upright in bed in the middle of the night.

Next to him, Molly immediately tenses and looks up, alert and wary. “Caleb? What’s wrong?”

Caleb reaches out with his mind to the source but finds nothing there. “It’s Frumpkin.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been 84 years..
> 
> If you want some good character songs for this, consider Matt Maeson's Tribulation for Caleb and Cliffy for Molly


End file.
